Do I Need a Damper?

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Bcantell
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Post by Bcantell » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 12:20 pm

Been running my Alaska 140 for 4-5 years now in my basement. I go thru about 4.5 -6 ton of rice a year. My house is around 2300 sq ft and is 25 years old, good windows and insulation.

I've run it with a straight pipe to a tile flue in a 2 story cement block chimney, and it seems to run just fine, never a blow back or issue with draft. I live on top of a hill and get alot of wind.

Am I missing something here? Should I install a damper?

 
franco b
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Post by franco b » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 12:33 pm

You have a combustion blower. Conceivably any change in draft will change the air delivered by that blower. If your draft is pretty constant then you have adjusted the fire to burn best at that draft reading. A barometric damper will smooth out any changes in that draft. I doubt it will make a big difference in the coal burned if your draft is uniform as is.

 
Bcantell
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Post by Bcantell » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 1:13 pm

franco b wrote:You have a combustion blower. Conceivably any change in draft will change the air delivered by that blower. If your draft is pretty constant then you have adjusted the fire to burn best at that draft reading. A barometric damper will smooth out any changes in that draft. I doubt it will make a big difference in the coal burned if your draft is uniform as is.
franco b Thanks for the response. I kinda thought alone those lines but thought I should ask more knowledgeable coal burners?

Thanks again

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 1:44 pm

The baro damper only limits the amout of draft your stove sees. It can't create more draft. The purpose of the baro damper is to keep your chimney from pulling to much draft on your stove. If your stove sees to much draft, the heat is being sucked out of it causing higher coal consuption.

I would say that if you have a tall chimney and you live on top of a windy hill, your draft will be very changable. With good windows and insulation, heating 2300 sq ft, 5 to 6 ton per year is on the high side.

I would install a baro damper and a manometer. I think that would keep you closer to 4 to 4.5 ton per year.

-Don


 
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Post by Pacowy » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 2:16 pm

Yes you should have a barometric damper and yes it should cut your coal consumption somewhat.

That said, I believe the Mayor's rule of thumb it that 5 tons of coal is needed for each 2000 sf of living space being heated. On that basis, a little over 5 tons looks pretty reasonable here, and the OP probably shouldn't bet too heavily on consumption much lower than that.

Mike

 
Bcantell
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Post by Bcantell » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 2:22 pm

StokerDon wrote:The baro damper only limits the amout of draft your stove sees. It can't create more draft. The purpose of the baro damper is to keep your chimney from pulling to much draft on your stove. If your stove sees to much draft, the heat is being sucked out of it causing higher coal consuption.

I would say that if you have a tall chimney and you live on top of a windy hill, your draft will be very changable. With good windows and insulation, heating 2300 sq ft, 5 to 6 ton per year is on the high side.

I would install a baro damper and a manometer. I think that would keep you closer to 4 to 4.5 ton per year.

-Don
Hey Don, Thanks for the response.

So your saying buy installing a baro damper and a manometer I should save 1 -1.5 ton a year? That sounds like a substantial savings for a little amount of parts and labor.

a pic of my exhaust pipe.
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I'm wondering if I can add a "T" in place of the top 90 and put the damper there? Where does the manometer go? Before or after the damper?
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Post by Bcantell » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 2:39 pm

Pacowy wrote:Yes you should have a barometric damper and yes it should cut your coal consumption somewhat.

That said, I believe the Mayor's rule of thumb it that 5 tons of coal is needed for each 2000 sf of living space being heated. On that basis, a little over 5 tons looks pretty reasonable here, and the OP probably shouldn't bet too heavily on consumption much lower than that.

Mike
Hey Mike, thanks for the info.

Sounds like I'm within the Mayor's rule of thumb (who's that?). Thing is I've never really monitored my consumption closely, and I forget what I bought because up until this year, I would get a trailer truck load with 4 or 5 others and split it up. Then there's the left over from the previous year and the fact that I would go down south for a month, sometimes getting a friend to run the furnace and sometimes running the propane.

I'm staying put this year and tracking my consumption by marking down each bag and keeping a history of the temps.

I've got 5 ton on hand. I feel it will last the season.

 
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Post by Pacowy » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 4:13 pm

You're welcome.

Member "Richard S." is the founder of the forum, and his profile says his rank is "Mayor", so I went with that.

Mike


 
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Post by Lightning » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 5:10 pm

I too believe that with your situation of the tall chimney and windy conditions that a baro will make your unit more efficient. Will it save a ton of coal?? Hard to say...

 
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Post by olpanrider » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 5:35 pm

If it was me I would come straight out the back and put a tee with a clean out then come vertical with a tee for a barometric damper this will change your angle a little to the exit on the wall the manometer needs to be before the damper

 
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Post by coaledsweat » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 6:25 pm

I installed a baro for a member with a hand fired and it cut his consumption almost in half. A tall chimney can eat a lot of coal if it isn't tamed.

 
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Post by StokerDon » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 8:12 pm

If I were re-doing the stove pipe, I would remove both 90*'s and install "T"s, bottom one facing down, as a clean out, top one horizontal, so you can clean the short horizontal section into the chimney. Then I would install the baro damper in the center of that angled run. I would plumb the mano meter about half way between the bottom "T" and the baro damper. With that set up cleaning is easy, smack the pipe with both hands open, pull the bottom clean out cover and dump in the ash pan. Use a half moon scrapper on a stick to either push the ash into the chimney clean out or, pull toward you into a pan. Then your done, about 5 minutes.

I didn't mean that you would save 1.5 ton a year nessisarily. Your chimney very likely sucks realy hard on your stove, anything above about -.06 WC is just blowing your heat to the outside world. Installing the manometer will let you know this is happening. Installing the baro damper will let you adjust that problem out. I think you will save coal, how much, I don't know?

-Don

 
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Post by McGiever » Sun. Oct. 26, 2014 9:07 pm

Mfg'r of baro says NO Barometric damper in a Tee replacing that top 90*
The best location for a draft control is on the side of a horizontal pipe.

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